The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for more than a month now, has compelled people to make many hard choices. For instance, preparing their kids to take long journeys alone or living in underground subway stations. In an emotional and touching post, Sasha Makoviy, an artist based in Ukraine, wrote about how on the first day of the war she wrote her family’s contact details on her young child Vera’s back. Makoviy did so thinking that in case she dies during the war and only Vera survives then someone might be able to connect Vera with her other surviving family members. Makoviy shared a photo of Vera’s back which was inscribed with phone numbers, Vera’s full name, and date of birth. She also shared another picture of a hand-written contact card that had Vera’s name, her parent's and relatives' contact information. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sasha Makoviy (@aleksandra.mako) While sharing the photos, the Ukrainian mother wrote that it pains her to scroll through her phone gallery because it reminds her of the wonderful life they had before the war. She further wrote in Ukrainian, that roughly translates to, “I signed Vera in case something happened to us, and someone would pick her up as a survivor. Or it will be lost, which, according to my logic, could only happen when I was disconnected. Then even a crazy thought flashed through my mind "why didn't I tattoo her with this information?" And I still can't bring myself to put this scrambled paper in the second photo. Although now we are at a safe place.” Many other Ukrainians echoed Makoviy’s sentiments and shared that they also did the same thing. “My son still has a note in his pocket. Although we have been safe for 3 weeks 💔”, a person wrote. Another Instagram user remarked, “We have been in a safe city since the beginning of the war. We go for walks with such a piece of paper, and in addition with a bracelet with contact numbers. And I think we will have this fear for a long time. Hold on 🙏🇺🇦”.
